People are ending their relationships after discovering the 'Doritos theory'

It's no secret that dating and relationships can be an absolute minefield.

From swiping past major red flags on Tinder and wondering how often you should text your new crush, to enduring disappointing date after disappointing date, finding love can be exhausting.

But even those of us in relationships aren't safe - oh, no.

Relationships can, of course, end for a variety of reasons, from simply falling out of love to more brutal realities like cheating.

But it's unlikely you'd associate a theory based on Doritos as a reason for leaving your other half.

The phenomenon has gone viral on Tiktok, with one video on the subject alone racking up some 3.2m million views.

The Dorito theory is based on a scenario that probably sounds familiar to a lot of us: if you find yourself eating Dorito after Dorito without giving it much thought, then that could correlate to other areas - and people - in your life.

Further explaining the theory, TikTok user Celeste Aria said: “The idea is that only experiences that aren't truly satisfying are maximally addictive.

"So imagine eating Doritos. When you eat a Dorito and finish your bite, you're not fully satisfied.

"It’s not the same as eating a steak or eating really satiating food that's high in protein, where after you bite, you really feel that fullness and that warmth of satisfaction."

She further explained that eating a chip is addictive because 'the peak of the experience is kind of when you're first tasting it and not after' and that 'the experience itself is not satisfying in the end'.

The TikToker went on to suggest the theory could apply to ‘lots of very addictive things in life’ - such as social media consumption.

"With Dorito theory - just this idea that things that aren’t actually satisfying are the ones that are maximally addictive and that’s why I want them - I think I can identify those areas and try to avoid them more effectively,” she said.

She then recommended that people try to remove something that 'falls in the Dorito category'.

And according to psychologist Reneé Carr, there is merit to this theory.

"Not experiencing satiation when engaging in a particular activity or in a relationship can influence you into staying in a situation that is not truly satisfying, not healthy and not happy," she told USA Today.

“Because you experience just enough satisfaction, we mistakenly think that full satisfaction is possible – leading us to stay longer or invest more energy unnecessarily.”

Other TikTok users felt called out by the theory, as one commented on the original video: "Wow this is game changing".

A second wrote: "You just improved my life my dear! *relabels that man in my phone as Dorito*" as a second said: "My situationship is deffo a Dorito".

Another noted: "The irony of Dorito theory being explained/ presented while scrolling through tiktok, is not lost on me" as a second echoed: "But see if I didn’t spend 5 hours a day scrolling tik tok, I never would’ve known this".